


you're not responding (i think they broke you)

by hanktalkin



Series: UN PL UG GE D [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Minor Injuries, Other, Secrets, Tea Parties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 17:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12346878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanktalkin/pseuds/hanktalkin
Summary: Lynx doesn't expect to hear from her again.





	you're not responding (i think they broke you)

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't even plan this i just opened up a googl,e docs in lecture and made the dudes

Lynx didn't imagine to hear from the soldier again. They expected the candypink Russian to disappear from their life and fade into the snowy night.

Metaphorical snow, of course. They actually saw Zarya off at the Numbani airport before she returned to the front, the two of them silent under the defeat of their shared mission. Her last words to them were, "you have done what you said what you would do. That is something."

Not exactly a thank you, but Lynx held the words with them like handful of delicate glass. Barbed but...sentimental.

And that was the end of that. Lynx never gave up on Sombra, but all leads had gone cold, and they found other projects to occupy the multitudes of months. People always needed things traced, and eventually the whirlwind tour and the two women (one a mystery and one not) faded from Lynx Seventeen's mind.

That was until they received a message.

It popped up on Lynx's work tablet, one that was annoyingly unsecured. They used it for picking up new jobs, and it was basically an abject bulletin board of various calls and complaints. Occasionally Lynx would find something interesting in all the junk, but mostly they just ignored anything that didn't have a price up front.

It was only when Lynx glanced at the sender that they paused. @ **AZaryaNova**. There was no one else that could be, and Lynx forwarded it to their personal mail before their curiosity could make them do something stupid.

Within two days, Zarya was sitting on Lynx's couch, holding a cup of tea like she'd personally seen Lynx pour poison in it.

"You know," they told her as they turned off one of the nearby screens, "if you don't trust me by now, you've come a long way to sit in my living room in silence."

Zarya set down her pink teacup. It was just as well; it looked comically small in the Russian's large hands. "Trust is not necessary. I have worked without it before."

"That I'm aware of," Lynx remembered. When Zarya still didn't pick up her drink, they changed the subject. "Considering your message implied you wanted to keep this a relatively low profile visit, I am surprised you contacted me on an open channel."

Zarya frowned. Or grimaced was a better term. Maybe if she had a little of the orange tea she wouldn't be so bitter. "I could not contact you the same way as before. Katya-... _Volskaya_ and I are no longer on terms."

That was concerning. Lynx wondered what Zarya had just gotten them. Oh well, it's not like they didn't already have a thousand and one enemies in Russia.

"I see. Then you probably shouldn't have your real name in the sending information."

"Oh," Zarya said. The soldier didn't fidget. Not once since Lynx had met her, which was strange for a human. Even Lynx was prone to twitching their ears, a tic that was especially pronounced when they when thinking. But Zarya just sat silently, her face locked in a noiseless staring match with a potted fichus. "I did...not know what else to do. I do not have many fr-allies outside of Russia. I was growing nervous, and perhaps slightly sleep deprived at the time."

Lynx tapped their fingers against a powered down keyboard. An admission of weakness. This really must have shaken the soldier.

"May I take a guess that the origin of your insomnia this big secret you supposedly could only tell me in person?"

"You may guess anything you like, omnic," Zarya replied acrimoniously. "Your thoughts do not concern me."

"Of course they don't. That's why you flew halfway across the world, sit on my couch, and refuse to drink my tea."

"Omnics don't drink tea," Zarya said stoutly. "You would not know how to make it well."

And, god damn it, Lynx had to laugh. Their amusement must have caught Zarya off guard, because she looked up at them like they had grown a third arm. Lynx shook their head at the strange visitor.

"Zarya. You are not the first human I've ever had in my home. Drink the tea."

Zarya looked like she was going to argue, but her complaint was stuffed inside a disgruntled frown instead. She picked up her teacup and had a sip.

"See?" Lynx asked.

Zarya's eyes widened. "It is...good."

That was some damn high praise. Lnyx twitched their ears, the only way they really had of smiling.

"Your couch is too soft though," Zarya said. As though saying something purely positive about an omnic would kill her.

"It has to be. My sensors aren't built for detecting subtle changes in texture. This is really the only way I can get comfortable."

"Oh," Zarya said again.

"So, now that we've established I make good tea: why did you come to me Zarya? What is this big secret you just could not sit on?"

Fiddling with her cup, Zarya didn't make eye contact. She took another sip, and then sighed in a way that highlighted ever tendon of stress in her neck. "I cannot tell you."

The flash of irritation came in immediately. "I know you said you did not trust me, but this is _ridiculous_. If you wanted to waste my time-"

"It's not just you!" Zarya said, crushing the teacup in her hand without even noticing. "I cannot tell _anyone_. No one in Russia would want it to be known, and no one outside will know what to do. _I_ don't know what to do."

She looked down at her hand, as though only now noticing the pink ceramic imbedded in her skin. When she opened her fist, a dribble of blood fell on the carpet.

She looked up at Lynx. "If you knew something. Something that might change the world, or maybe already has...what would you do?"  
Lynx looked her. A woman that looked powerless at the moment, despite still holding the small teacup she had so brutally murdered. Lynx had met many like her, those unwilling to believe an omnic was worth more than the metal they were printed on, and Lynx had never cared to convince them. But this woman had saved their life. And she hadn't done it out of guilt or pity, but because something in her was still willing to see the other side.

"I would find someone to help me," Lynx replied, voice as clear as they could make it.

Relief softened in the soldier's eyes. "And...once you found someone to help you...what would _they_ do?"

Lynx stood, going over to collect their tablet. A couple of soft taps later, and they asked, "what do you know of Overwatch?"

Zarya's face was cautious, but not repelled. "I have heard of them. They have not made many friends in Russia."

"Neither have you," Lynx pointed out. They handed her the tablet, and she took it with her good hand. "They're an odd collection. And are sending out covert recruitment ads at the moment."

"They asked you?" Zarya raised her eyebrow over the screen.

Lynx nodded. "And, if I decide to show up one day, I'm sure they'll allow a plus one."

"I am not handing over what I found just for my personal security," Zarya said with disdain, trying to give the tablet back.

"You do not have to," Lynx said. "Not at first. But there are a lot people there who might have advice for you. Something I obviously, cannot give. Unless you were to tell me what exactly you discovered when you were on the front?"

She hesitated. For a brief instant, Lynx thought she might tell them why she'd come all this way. But then she shook her head, pursing her lips.

"No. I am sorry. Not until I am sure of what I know." Lynx didn't want to know what that meant. Zarya was now curling her fist against her stomach, trying to stop blood from dripping onto the carpet. She was doing a shitty job, but it's the thought that counts. "But Overwatch...this sounds like a good plan. If it will be safe and...give me time."

Lynx nodded. They left the livingroom, and Zarya must have assumed they were making arrangements or something because she was surprised when they returned with the first aid kit. Lynx knelt at the coffee table, and held out a hand for her palm. They thought she might refuse, but, after a blink, she let them take it, flinching slightly as they picked the bits of ceramic from her flesh.

What an odd day. What an odd woman. Lynx hadn't questioned her the first time she'd fallen into their life, but now they were two for two on reluctant partnership. She was the center of Lynx's curiosity now, more than Sombra ever was. And that couldn't entirely be blamed on this Deadly Secret she was supposedly carrying. There was more. And Lynx would have time to unravel.

They'd be working together for quite some time, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Man 2007 thow back with that title, am I right fellas?


End file.
